MRI: Acquisition of a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator to Enhance Research and Undergraduate Education

在主要研究仪器的支持下，Kelly Jantzen博士和他的合作者将为西华盛顿大学（WWU）的心理学系和行为神经科学项目购买Magstim Super Rapid2经颅磁刺激器。WWU是一所文科本科院校，位于西雅图以北90英里，加拿大温哥华以南50英里处，为可能难以获得高等教育的第一代和低收入学生提供重要服务。在行为神经科学项目中加入经颅电刺激将1)扩大实验室对认知神经基础的理解能力，2)加强人类认知和神经科学的本科培训和教学（包括实验室和课堂），3)通过为转化研究提供平台，促进项目、心理学系、大学和社区之间的更大合作。经颅磁刺激（TMS）是认知神经科学的核心工具，因为与其他人脑成像方法不同，TMS允许研究局部脑功能和人类行为之间的因果关系。TMS将被用于两个主要的研究项目，涉及一些从事基础研究和转化研究的合作科学家。行动与感知的整合项目旨在了解人类如何协调、纠正和控制行动的神经机制。研究小组将利用经颅磁刺激结合高密度脑电图（EEG）来了解参与动作和视觉整合的大脑网络，了解有关感觉运动协调的信息如何用于纠正正在进行的动作，并最终揭示大脑额叶区域如何在动作执行中发挥抑制作用。一个相关的转化项目将结合人类经颅磁刺激研究和动物研究，以进一步了解额叶皮层在对行动和认知施加抑制控制方面的作用。第二个“大脑中的语言处理”项目，显示出在理解人类如何处理语言方面有令人兴奋的新发现的巨大希望。研究将探讨音乐训练如何增强右半球的语言处理。研究小组将测试用经颅磁刺激改变颞顶叶皮层的神经兴奋性是否会影响语音的分类感知。在第一部分中，将评估音乐家和非音乐家的右后上颞区活动的干扰效果。在第二部分中，研究人员将评估使用经颅磁刺激来增强这些区域活动的影响。该团队将把这些发现扩展到临床工作中，使用经颅磁刺激法来研究失语症的约束诱导语言治疗。该设备支持的研究和培训计划将促进校内和校外合作，并提高世界水大在校外研究资金和出版方面的竞争力。这些设备将支持并帮助促进世界海洋大学内部以及世界海洋大学与其他机构和社区之间的新合作。这些仪器将为本科生提供培训和主流电生理方法的途径，他们中的许多人是家里第一个上大学的人。认知神经科学方法的培训为神经科学、工业和医疗保健提供了机会。经颅磁刺激在许多临床疾病的治疗中迅速普及，我们有机会培养具有广泛培训和直接经验的本科生。

With Major Research Instrument Support, Dr. Kelly Jantzen and his collaborators at will purchase a Magstim Super Rapid2 Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator for the Psychology Department and Behavioral Neuroscience Program at Western Washington University(WWU). WWU, a liberal arts undergraduate institution located 90 miles north of Seattle and 50 miles south of Vancouver, Canada, serves an important segment of first-generation and low-income students who may struggle to access higher education. The addition of TMS to the Behavioral Neuroscience Program will 1) expand laboratory capability for understanding the neural basis of cognition, 2) enhance undergraduate training and teaching (both in the lab and in the classroom) in human cognition and neuroscience and 3) foster greater collaboration across the Program, the Psychology department, University and community, in part, by providing a platform for translational research. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a central tool in cognitive neuroscience because, unlike other human brain imaging approaches, TMS allows for the investigation of causal relationships between localized brain function and human behavior. The TMS will be employed in two main research programs involving a number of collaborative scientists working on both basic and translational research. The Integration of action and perception program seeks to understand neural mechanisms for how humans coordinate, correct and control action. The research team will use TMS in conjunction with high-density electroencephalography (EEG) to understand the brain network involved in the integration of action and vision, to learn how information about sensorimotor coordination is used to correct ongoing actions and finally to uncover how frontal brain regions play an inhibitory role over action execution. A related translational program will combine human TMS studies with and animal research to further understand the role of frontal cortex in exerting inhibitory control over action and cognition. The second Language Processing in the Brain program, shows great promise for making new and exciting discoveries in understanding how humans process language. Research will investigate how musical training enhances the processing of language in the right hemisphere. The team will test whether altering neural excitability in tempo-parietal cortices with TMS will influence categorical perception of speech sounds In part 1, the effects of disrupting activity in right posterior-superior temporal regions of musicians and non-musicians will be evaluated. In part 2, researchers will evaluate the influence of using TMS to enhancing activity in these same regions. The team will extend these findings to clinical work using TMS to investigating constraint induced language therapy in aphasicsThe research and training program enabled by the equipment will foster intramural and extramural collaborations and increase WWU's competitiveness for extramural research funding and publishing. The equipment will support ongoing and help foster new collaborations within WWU and between WWU and other institutions and the community. The instrumentation will provide training and access to mainstream electrophysiological methodologies to undergraduate students, many of whom are the first in their family to attend university. Training in Cognitive Neuroscience methods provides opportunities in neuroscience, industry and healthcare. TMS is rapidly gaining in popularity for the treatment of a number of clinical disorders and we have the opportunity to produce undergraduates with extensive training and direct experience.